Sometimes parents worry about screen time of their kids. But, it is not always true. Instead of preventing or controlling screen time of your kids, you can use that time for educating them. With lot of available fun apps, you can easily teach your kids. As using games or other educational apps are really fun for kids, they will be more concentrate on what they do. That is really a pretty good chance to teach them new words, phonics or even other knowledge which are helpful for them to improve their skills.

Whether you love it or hate it – or don’t know what it is – Pokemon Go is one of the most popular apps in the world right now. Here are some alternatives created intentionally to foster learning, making them a truly worthwhile time investment. For fun, and since Pokemon’s from Japan, I’ll count the 4 apps in Japanese – Ichi, Ni, San, Go!

They’ve really brought this time-honored system to the 21st century with this amazing app. It has educational games to keep kids engaged at home or on the phone anywhere. I love that it syncs children’s progress to all devices – so if dad is on the road he’s up to speed on the kids’ progress, and if you don’t have the iPad around, you can just download the app, sign in, and have the kids pick up right where they left off. Seamless.

I like this app because kids can read quietly and be entertained wherever they are. It also gives the entire family access to thousands of books on an iPad, kindle, phone, etc, so there are options for all ages! Turn screen time into story time with this “Netflix for Children’s Books” app. It’s great to be able to save books to the app so they can be read offline anywhere! For example, in a home office, at the park, in the car, and of course at bedtime.

Do your kids love video games and winning badges? Use that to get them coding! The Learn to Mod program is a browser-based software that teaches kids how to “mod” Minecraft with both Blockly and Javascript (neither of which I understand, but there you have it). The program includes hundreds of video lessons, puzzles, and quizzes that get kids learning this impressive skill while having fun. The cool badges keep them coming back for more, and even pique mom’s interest. 🙂

Does your high schooler need help in a particular subject? Are you strapped for time to help with homework? There’s an app for that! GradeSlam provides 24/7 tutoring in all subjects to students in middle and high school, as well as college. With their award winning chat-based tutoring platform, your kids can access tutors anytime they (or you) need. This is a perfect supplement for subject matter beyond your scope, busy spells, and for when kids head off to college. For anyone gearing up their juniors for college entrance testing, this is a no – brainer.

Amila Gamage Wickramarachchi is the founder of this blog which she shares her parenting and lifestyle experiences.She is a Contracts Engineer by profession and recently launched her own Engineering consultancy service Sihela Consultants.(www.sihelaconsultants.com)